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Janet Amirault, CEO of Software Consortium (SCI), an innovative software solutions provider headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, was recognized as the 2012 Maryland Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. SBA Administrator Karen Mills presented Amirault with the award and thanked her for being an inspiring leader who has overcome unusual adversity.
The award recognizes outstanding business owners, and by extension their teams, for their leadership, business results, resiliency and contributions to America’s economy. SCI played a key role in helping Amtrak significantly lower long-term costs and increase user safety and satisfaction by allowing customers to purchase tickets with their smartphones. The application was recently featured in the New York Times and garnered an innovation award for Amtrak.
In a recent speech introducing his new initiative to help small businesses, the Small Business Goaling Act, Senator Ben Cardin commended Amirault for her company’s growth in the last three years and said, “This is the innovation we have in Maryland that comes out of the small business community.”
SCI has created trend setting and award winning first-to-market solutions that leverage back-end data and new technology while lowering costs. Other regional businesses that have benefitted from the company’s innovation include BlueCross BlueShield, GEICO, and M&T Bank; in the last few years SCI has focused on the Federal sector. “SCI’s role with Amtrak demonstrates the creativity, teaming and excellence that SCI brings to business and government initiatives, at high returns on investment and a process that is focused on lowest costs and unique teaming,” said Amirault. Featured in the Washington Post as well as Inc. Magazine for her dedication, resiliency, and focus on customers and employees, Amirault and her executive team and partners were also recognized in 2012 with an Executive Team Award.
At SBA’s Small Business Week town hall meeting, Janet Amirault addressed SBA Administrator Karen Mills and other small business leaders with an inspiring message about small business innovation and the response of small businesses during our economic crisis saying, “As a small technology company facing a health crisis of its CEO we continued to grow and helped clients grow. We helped Amtrak deploy one of the first major mobile applications and will help other companies, Federal and State agencies, and perhaps globally, leverage the smartphone platform.”